Men's Tennis Opens Season Ranked No. 2

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CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Virginia men’s tennis team opens the season ranked No. 2 nationally, as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced the preseason poll Tuesday. In addition, seven Cavalier singles players and three doubles teams also earned national rankings.

The Cavaliers trailed just reigning national champion USC in the team rankings. Ohio State, UCLA, Tennessee, Baylor, Georgia, Texas, Stanford and Mississippi rounded out the top 10.

Virginia led all schools with seven players ranked in the top 125 nationally in singles. Junior Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) headlined the group, earning a career-high No. 3 national ranking. Classmate Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) is No. 12 and first-year Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) received his first career ranking at No. 16. Senior Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and sophomore Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) earned career-high rankings at No. 28 and No. 31 respectively. Senior Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) is No. 58 and sophomore Steven Eelkman Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) is No. 80.

In doubles, the team of Singh and Barrick are No. 5 nationally. Singer and Courtney are a career-high No. 17 and Barrick and Shabaz are No. 25.

The Cavalier women’s tennis team was No. 26 in the preseason rankings. Individually, sophomore Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) received her first career singles ranking at No. 76.